Trojan War

The Trojan War was a ten-year long war that was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states and the kingdom of Troy in the 13th century BC. Caused by Prince Paris' seduction of Helen of Sparta, the war tore the land asunder and caused a long conflict that left most of the heroes on both sides dead. Famous moments of the battle were the Trojan Horse deception, the duel between Hector of Troy and Achilles, and the murder of King Priam of Troy and his son Polites by Neoptolemus, Achilles' orphaned son.

Background
Troy was a Greek city-state on the coast of Turkey, near modern-day Hisarlik. Years before the war, it was brought to its knees by King Agamemnon of Athens, who brought it under his control. One day, Queen Hecuba of Troy had a nightmare where the city would be destroyed, and the oracle Cassandra, whom nobody believed, preached that the return of the alienated Prince Paris of Troy would bring the ruin of the city. King Priam ignored her and welcomed his estranged son back to Troy with his sons Hector and Deiphobos. Prince Paris later visited Sparta, home of King Menelaus, whose wife Helen had beauty that put the prettiest flower to shame. Helen was either abducted by Paris or was seduced, and returned to Troy with him, abandoning Menelaus. Menelaus called upon his brother Agamemnon of Athens to form a coalition against Troy to get back Helen, and Agamemnon offered Troy's riches to those who followed him. Agamemnon, Menelaus of Sparta, Diomedes of Argos, Idomeneus of Crete, mighty Ajax, Prince Palamedes, the young Prince Achilles, his companion Patroklos, and the old king Odysseus of Ithaca responded to the call, leading 100,000 troops aboard 1,000 ships to attack the Trojan Wall, an impregnable fortress.

Landings
The Trojans immediately contested the landings with hails of arrows and magnificent stone-throwers. As Agamemnon observed aboard his ship, his forces made land at the beach, led by Achilles. The Greeks pushed their way through Trojan militia, and shielded themselves from seemingly endless showers of arrows. They made it to the cliffs, and with the aid of Patroklos, Achilles pushed the mighty stone throwers off of the Trojan cliffs. With the landing secure, the Greeks set up a perimeter. However, there were Trojan villagers caught in the middle, so Prince Hektor bravely rode out to rescue them, donning battle armor and saving the lives of over 30 villagers. When he returned victorious, he closed the gates, and the Trojans withstood several Greek attacks.

Siege
The Grecians hungered for the riches promised to them as years went by. Achilles refused to let his men remain idle and in three years conquered twelve cities which he claimed and plundered. Everything changed when he came to the outskirts of Lyrnessos. The Dardanian prince Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, held the grain-rich settlement. He refused to give up, and was bested in a duel with Achilles, but fled the tip of his sword. Achilles led his Greeks forwards into the city, capturing the granaries and town hall. He also slew Mynes, an elderly warrior who guarded the people of the city. The fal of Lyrnessos was a blow to Trojan morale, as yet another of their allies fell to the Greek army.

At the same time, King Theseus of Athens held Queen Hippolyte of the Amazons in Athens after capturing her. Her sister Penthesilea led a troop of Amazons to rescue her from imprisonment. However, in the attack, a javelin meant to kill Theseus was dodged and Hippolyte was pierced, killing her, and the Amazons left Athens to the Greeks after retreating.

Nine years after the siege of Troy began, every surrounding city of Troas was conquered by the Greeks, except for Troy and Thebe. Thebe, ruled by King Eetion, was the last ally of Troy, so Agamemnon and Prince Ajax sailed to the shores and besieged it. They gradually fought their way uphill through several Cilician troops and eventually killed Eetion in a duel, but Agamemnon unwisely angered the gods by refusing ransom from the high priest of Apollo's temple for his daughter, and they took all of the money and enslaved everyone except for the priest.

Soon after, a plague broke out in the Greek encampment outisde of Troy. Achilles and Patroklos headed to the Temple of Apollo to inquire why the curse was brought upon them, and Achilles' mother Thetis warned him not to kill Prince Troilos, as he was favored by Apollo. An arrogant Achilles ignored her and set out to accomplish his goal, to exterminate the house of Priam. He headed to the temple, where it is said that he fought a reanimated Statue of Apollo, and destroyed it. However, Agamemnon took Briseis as a captive and Achilles was forced to give her up to him, but warned him that he would never fight for him again.

Soon, Hektor and Deiphobos led their men out of Troy's walls, having believed that the gods were now in their favor. They pushed on the Greek wooden ramparts that the invaders cowered behind, and routed their foes. Agamemnon called upon Achilles to lead his men, giving him back Briseis, but when Achilles refused, Patroklos took Achilles' armor and led his troops across the river and attacked the Trojans. Hektor killed Patroklos in a duel, and an enraged Achilles swore vengeance.

Meanwhile, Aeneas was sent to find allies for Troy. He found Penthesilea, who wanted to die a warrior's death, and chose to join the Trojans with the Amazons. She was cleansed at a temple and led her women in support of Troy. Achilles charged onto the battlefield and slew Penthesilea in a duel, although he respected her reasons for battle. Then, he headed out to kill Hektor. After a duel, Achilles refused Hektor's arrangements that the dead's body would be taken back to his own lines, and dug a sword into his chest, before mutilating his dead body.

Paris mourned, and grew angry when the new hero, Memnon of Aithiopia (the Nile River), was also slain by Achilles. In a duel with Achilles, his brother Deiphobos was killed, but he shot Achilles with his arrows seven times. One such arrow hit his heel, his weak spot, enabling him to hole him several other times. Achilles died, and he redeemed himself for the gods, having judged Aphrodite fairest of the other goddesses. Ajax went mad when Achilles died and he carved his way through Trojan hordes and retrieved Achilles' body from the Trojans. He stole the Palladion from the Temple of Athena along with Odysseus, so allegedly Athena caused him to feel madness. He was mad that Odysseus got Achilles' armor and the palladion, and what was not given to Odysseus was given to Agamemnon. He was driven into a vision where he accidentally killed Menelaus by slamming him into a rock and then saw Achilles' body there. Odysseus had men attack Ajax, because he had killed the man he swore to protect, and he slew the attacking soldiers. However, when he awoke, he recognized that he had killed cattle, and jumped upon a sword that he had fixed into the ground.

Fall
Having lost Ajax, Agamemnon decided on a ploy. He built a towering wooden horse that was supposed to be an offering for Athena in return for the stealing of the Palladion, and he sent troops inside of it as it entered Troy's walls. The Greeks left on their ships but returned quietly in the night and stormed the sleeping city of Troy, with the citizens sleeping as thick as the dead. Odysseus and Agamemnon hurried to the gate as the people of Troy celebrated. The slaughter was great, and Odysseus defeated Paris in a duel. Paris pleaded to Odysseus that Helen and his father be spared, but Menelaus dug into his chest with a sword. Helen was spared, but Agamemnon had Priam be killed, ignoring his pleas to let some Trojans remain in the land, but agreed to let him have a quick death. The spoils of Troy went to the Greeks, and with the oath fulfilled, the Greeks returned home, leaving the once-magnificent city of Troy in ruins.

As the Greeks scourged and burnt the city of Troy, Aeneas secured his friends and family in hopes of fleeing burning Troy. He carried his ailing father away, and escaped to some ships, and they fled to a new Mediterranean peninsula: Italy.

Aftermath
The Greeks fell into trouble as they left Troy, having upset the gods. Menelaus and Helen's ships were blown away to Egypt for eight years, while Odysseus was stuck in the Mediterranean for ten years, having made land in southern France, North Africa, the western coastline of Italy, and having defeated the cyclops Polyphemus on his island, now known as Sicily.

Aeneas of Dardania went on to create the first Greek colonies in Italy, including Tarentum, Croton, Tarquinii, and Syracuse. These would flourish until the early Roman era, when Gaius Julius the Elder evicted the Greeks from their cities around 327 BC until the end of the 4th century BC.